Girls: VW hangs on to defeat Lincolnview

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

Two second half scoring droughts were the difference in Van Wert’s 49-45 non-conference girls’ basketball win over Lincolnview on Saturday.

After taking a brief 35-33 lead with 3:48 left in the third quarter, Lincolnview was unable to score again in the period. In the fourth quarter, the visitors knotted the contest at 45 with 3:30 remaining, but were unable to crack the scoring column for the remainder of the game.

In the third period, a pair of foul shots by Lakin Brant gave the Lady Lancers a two point advantage, but Abby Jackson’s basket quickly tied the game at 35. Reagan Priest hit a bucket for a 37-35 lead and Cassidy Meyers drained a trey to give Van Wert a 40-35 advantage entering the fourth quarter.

An offensive rebound and basket by Lincolnview’s Frankie Carey tied the contest at 45 with 3:30 remaining in the fourth quarter. A bucket by Van Wert’s Cassidy Meyers 15 seconds later gave the Lady Cougars a 47-45 lead, then Meyers iced the game by hitting both ends of a one-and-one with 24.6 seconds left.

In between the basket and free throws by Meyers, the Lady Lancers had several chances from the floor and foul line but were unable to capitalize.

“We got good looks, we called some sets, we got the shots we wanted, we got some shots out of our motion offense that we felt good about, but they just didn’t go down,” Lincolnview head coach Dan Williamson said.

“We knew it was going to be a hard fought game,” Williamson added. “We knew they didn’t want to lose to us and we didn’t want to lose to them, and it proved to be every bit of that today.”

“I give a testament to our defense,” Van Wert head coach Rob Adams said. “We talked about how defense was going to win this game and it did.”

Early on it looked like the game would be an offensive shootout, as the Lady Cougars led 19-18 at the end of the opening quarter. Van Wert’s Reagan Priest scored seven of her 13 points in the period, while Caylee Phillips added five. Lincolnview’s Alena Looser drained two triples and Maddie Gorman scored five of her game high 17 points.

“Anytime we start fast like that, it’s a boost to our confidence throughout the rest of the game,” Adams said.

The pace slowed in the second quarter, with each team scoring 10 points, with Gorman accounting for five of Lincolnview’s points, and Priest hitting two baskets for four of Van Wert’s points.

The two teams were neck-and-neck until late in the third quarter, when Van Wert extended its lead to five.

“Win lose or draw, you want to walk away from the game feeling good about your effort and we definitely do,” Williamson said. “But with five seniors on our team, just having good efforts isn’t enough anymore. Two years ago when these girls were all sophomores, an effort was good enough because they were still learning how to play at the varsity level, but we’re not at that point now.”

“The young team we have is finding a way to win some games,” Adams said. ‘We beat St. John’s, we beat Spencerville and we beat Lincolnview. Now we have to expand upon this…We have a nine-game stretch and we believe we can win each one.”

Van Wert (3-10) will host Paulding on Tuesday, while Lincolnview (3-10) will travel to Antwerp the same night.

Scoring summary:

Van Wert      19 10 11 9 – 49
Lincolnview  18 10 7 10 – 45

Van Wert: Alexis Metz 1-0-3; Abby Jackson 4-3-11; Caylee Phillips 3-0-7; Reagan Priest 6-0-13; Cassidy Meyers 2-2-7; Jerica Huebner 1-0-2; Jamison Clouse 2-0-4

Lincolnview: Olivia Gorman 2-0-5; Maddie Gorman 7-2-17; Alena Looser 3-0-10; Kayla Schimmoeller 2-0-4; Lakin Brant 3-2-8; Frankie Carey 1-0-2
JV – Lincolnview won 60-22